Vending machine having sequential actuation of disperser

ABSTRACT

A vending machine includes a cabinet having a series of article vending mechanisms mounted on shelves, at least one of which is hinged about a vertical axis, each article bending mechanism including a vertical guideway for retaining a stack of filled tapered cups in inverted position, and an escapement mechanism at the lower end of said guideway having two pair of retractable support ledges which alternatively are reciprocated by a solenoid, which may be under the control of a stepping relay, to engage the inverted top sides of successive filled cups.

United States Patent [191 Pearce [4 1 Sept. 4, 1973 1 VENDING MACHINE HAVING SEQUENTIAL ACTUATION OF DISPERSER [75] Inventor: John H. Pearce, Shawnee Mission,

Kans.

[73] Assignee: The Cornelius Company, Anoka,

Minn.

[22] Filed: Nov. 9, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 87,822

[52] US. Cl 194/10, 211/49 D, 221/14,

221/112, 221/129, 221/301 [51] Int. Cl. G071 ll/48 [58] Field of Search 221/14, 154, 268,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,215,241 11/1965 Haefele et a1 221/298 X 1,830,805 11/1931 Myer 221/298 X 1,649,365 11/1927 Poling et a1... 221/298 X 1,457,177 5/1925 Lee 211/49 D 2,858,043 10/1958 Fenton et al 221/298 X 3,191,737 6/1965 James, Sr. et al 221/110 X 3,074,593 1/1963 Krakauer et al. 221/129 X 2,033,174 3/1936 Battey 221/268 X 2,497,748 2/1950 Von Stoesen 221/14 X 1,520,970 12/1924 Smith 211/49 D 1,728,454 9/1929 Sterling 221/301 X 2,802,474 8/1957 Grenier et al 221/110 Primary Examiner-Robert B. Reeves Assistant Examiner-David A. Scherbel AttorneyHill, Sherman, Meroni, Gross and Simpson [57] ABSTRACT A vending machine includes a cabinet having a series of article vending mechanisms mounted on shelves, at least one of which is hinged about a vertical axis, each article bending mechanism including a vertical guideway for retaining a stack of filled tapered cups in inverted position, and an escapement mechanism at the lower end of said guideway having two pair of retractable support ledges which alternatively are reciprocated by a solenoid, which may be under the control of a stepping relay, to engage the inverted top sides of successive filled cups.

11 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PMENTEDSEP 4am Q 3.756.362

sum-Mr 3 I N VENTOR.

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s w ATTORNEYS VENDING MACHINE HAVING SEQUENTIAL ACTUATION OF DISPERSER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention pertains to an article vending machine, and more particularly to such a device having a discharge control mechanism for each of a plurality of sources of articles which may be sequentially actuated.

2. Prior Art Heretofore, a stack of nested empty cups has been provided wherein a cup has been released to pass to a dispensing station at which it is filled. Heretofore, it has also been known to provide a stack of filled cups or containers of tapered type which roll sideways down an inclined chute to be vended. The former type of mechanism is impractical for certain types of goods which will not readily flow such as rigid ice cream or potato chips. The latter type has proved to be impractical because the cups are tapered so that they must be loaded in the chute on their sides, one tapering to the left and the next one tapering to the right. Such an arrangement requires a steep chute so that the containers will overcome the binding of tapers and slide and roll downwardly. Accordingly, great space is wasted in construction of the chutes, diminishing the product capacity of the machine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, I have provided an article vending machine in which a stack of filled tapered cups are stored in inverted position, an escapement mechanism acting on the inverted top sides or lids of successive cups and including two pair of retractable alternatively actuatable support ledges for such purpose, a plurality of such article vending mechanisms being disposed on a rear fixed shelf and on a front shelf hinged about a vertical axis, such vending mechanisms being under the control of a stepping relay to obtain sequential vending from a plurality of the article vending mechanisms.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vending machine having an article vending mechanism constructed to store and dispense or vend filled tapered cups.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an article vending mechanism which will act reliably on a stack of filled cups of substantial number without applying lateral forces thereto that may deform such cups or loosen their lids.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an article vending mechanism for filled tapered cups of such construction that a relatively large quantity of such cups may be stored in a relatively small cabinet.

Many other advantages, features and additional objects of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

ON THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a horizontal cross sectional view, partly diagrammatic, of a vending machine provided in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front elevational view of one of the article vending mechanisms of the vending machine of FIG. 1, the same being partially broken away;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the article vending mechanism of FIG. 2 with a door thereof in an open position;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged horizontal cross-sectional view taken along line IVIV of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary rear elevational view of the lower portion of the article vending mechanism shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken substantially along line VI-VI of FIG. 4 showing the normal position of the escapement;

FIG. 7 corresponds to FIG. 6 showing the actuated or energized position of the escapement;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary elevational view taken along line VIIIVIII of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a first control circuit which may be employed as a part of the vending machine of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 10 is a second control circuit which may be employed to control the vending machine of FIG. 1.

AS SHOWN ON THE DRAWINGS The principles of this invention are particularly useful when embodied in a vending machine such as that illustrated diagrammatically in FIG. 1, generally indicated by the numeral 10. The vending machine 10 includes a cabinet 11 having a door 12 with a delivery chute l3lto which articles are supplied by one or more article vending mechanisms l3,each article vending mechanism 13 being further identified by the letters A-H respectively in connection with the control circuits described below. The cabinet 11 has a fixed shelf or plate 14 disposed at the rear of its interior, and a pair of hinged shelves or plates l5, 16 disposed at the front of the interior of the cabinet 11. The shelves l5 and 16 are each hinged to the cabinet 11 as at 17 and 18 respectively for pivoting about spaced vertical axes. The fixed shelf 14 supports four of the article vending mechanisms 13, and each of the shelves 15 and 16 in this embodiment supports a pair of article vending mechanisms 13. The article vending mechanisms 13 on the shelves l5 and 16 normally block access to the article vending mechanisms 13 on the rear shelf 14, but with the cabinet door 12 moved to an open position, each of the shelves [5 and 16 may be rocked about its hinge axis to enable access to the otherwise blocked rearwardly disposed vending mechanisms 13.

Each of the article vending mechanisms 13 is identical to the others and includes a vertical guideway or stack retainer generally indicated at 19 and an escapement mechanism generally indicated by the numeral 20 disposed and supported at the lower end of the guideway 19.

As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the vertical guideway includes a lower portion 21 and an upper portion 22. The lower portion 21 is in the form of a 4-sided box open at its upper and lower ends with an access slot 23 extending along the length thereof at the front side. The upper portion 22 is in the form of an elongated cage the front side of which comprises a pivoted door 24 which also has an elongated slot 25 extending along its length in alignment with the elongated slot 23. The elongated cage or upper portion 22 in this embodiment is constructed to include five elongated strips or bars 26-30, four elongated wires or rods 31-34 disposed in a rectangle intermediate the strips 2630, the lower ends of each wire or rod 31-34 engaging endwise and being supported on one of the shelves 14-16. Seven straps 35-41 are joined to and interconnect the various strips 26-30 and wires 31-34. To this end, each of the straps 35-38 is formed in a U-shape as best seen in FIG. 3, the same being welded or otherwise secured to the various strips 28-30 and wires 31-34. At least two of the straps, here the straps 39-41, have one end that encircles the wire 31 to form a hinge, each of which is vertically supported by the adjacent straps 36-38. The other ends of the straps 39-41 are formed as a snap fastener 42, best seen in FIG. 3. The 4-sided box or lower portion 21 constitutes substantially an extension of the various strips 26-30 so that the upper and lower portions 21, 22 of the vertical guideway 19 jointly can retain a vertical stack of filled tapered cups 43 which are closed by lids and which are disposed in inverted position so that the larger diameter is downward and the smaller diameter is upward as diagrammatically shown in FIG. 6. The cups 43, among other types, include typically a style wherein the lid is pressed into the cup rim, and a style wherein the lid grips the outside of the cup rim. In either style of construction, the lid of the cup is lowermost, the cup being supported by the article vending mechanism 13 in a vertical direction only by an upwardly directed force applied against the cup lid as explained more fully below. The access door 24 enables filling of each of the article vending mechanisms from the front, and the elongated slots 23,25 enable the fingers of the person who is loading the article vending mechanism 13 to reach therein to straighten or align any cup 43.

The escapement mechanism is disposed at the lower end of the guideway 19 and is secured to the 4- sided box or lower portion 21. The escapement mechanism 20 includes a first pair of retractable support ledges or cup retainers 44, 45, best seen in FIG. 6, disposed at opposite sides of the guideway 19 and normally projecting into the guideway into the path of movement of each of the cups 43. The escapement mechanism 20 further includes a second pair of retractable support ledges 46, 47 or cup retainers disposed at opposite sides of the guideway 19 and nonnally retracted out of the path of movement of the cups 43 within the guideway 19. A linkage generally indicated by the numeral 48 (FIG. 5) is connected between a solenoid 49 and the retractable support ledges 44-47 to effect alternate reciprocation thereof. The linkage 48 includes a pair of rockers 50, 51 carried by a pair of pivot pins 52, 52 which extend through from and rear brackets 53, 54, 54, secured respectively to the front and rear sides of the lower portion 21 of the vertical guideway 19. A set of four additional pivot pins 55-58 serve to pivotally support the retractable ledges 44-47 to the rockers 50, 51. To this end, each of the rockers 50, 51 has a flange at the front and the rear which is directed edgewise toward the lower portion 21 of the guideway 19. The pivot pin 55 extends through the front flange of the rocker 50, then through a pair of spaced ears on the retractable ledge 46, and thence through the rear flange on the rocker 50. In similar manner, the pivot pins 56-58 support the retractable ledges 47, 44, and 45 respectively. By such support, each ofthe rockers 50, 51 is enabled to move in an arc, each rocker being thus pivoted to two vertically spaced support ledges 44 and 46, or and 47 respectively. At least one flange of one of the rockers 50, 51 has an edge directed toward the lower portion 21 of the vertical guideway 19 which edge serves as a stop means to limit the travel of the support ledges 44-47 both in an inward direction and in an outward or retracting direction. In this embodiment, both of the flanges of both of the rockers 50, 51 have two such stop surfaces whereby identical components can be utilized. A spring 59 is connected between the pivot pins 57, 58 for normally urging the rockers 50, 51 in such direction so as to urge the first pair of support ledges 44, 45 into the guideway as shown in FIG. 6. By this construction, an equal force is applied to each of the support ledges 44, 45. The solenoid 49 has a plunger 60 which is connected by a common pivot pin 61 to a pair of links or bars 62, 62 which are respectively connected to the pivot pins 55, 56 and retained thereon as by retainer pins.

Each of the support ledges 44, 47 is flat, extends through a slot in the lower portion 21 of the vertical guideway 19 and has a pair of pilot fingers 63, 64 best seen in FIG. 4 on the extended support ledge 44 and on the retracted support ledge 46. Each of the shelves 14-16 has an opening 65 directly beneath each article vending mechanism 13, the opening 65 being round in this embodiment. The opening 65 has a diameter which is less than the diagonal distance across the lower portion 21 to provide corners for supporting the four elongated wires or rods 31-34. At the same time, the opening 65 has a diameter which is greater than the horizontal distance between the strips 28 and 30 and the frontto-rear distance between the strip 29 and the strips 26, 27. In this way, the strips 26-30 can guide the cup 43 in its path through the vertical guideway, aided at the lower end of the guideway by the lower portion 21 and through the opening 65.

In their extended positions, each of the pairs of support ledges 44-47 project into the guideway a sufficient distance such as to underlie the lids of the inverted cups 43 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6 in the instance of the support ledges 44, 45 and as shown in FIG. 7 in the instance of the support ledges 46, 47. When each of the support ledges 44-47 is retracted, it is retracted entirely from the path in which the cups 43 move, and is retracted substantially entirely out of the interior of the guideway portion 21 except for the pilot fingers 63, 64. In this manner, the pilot fingers 63, 64, when retracted, are located a substantial distance from the path of the cup 43, but remain in the slots in the guideway portion 21 to permit ready re-entry of the various retracted support ledges 44 and 45, or 46 and 47. The space between the upper and lower pairs of support ledges is less than the cup height or efiective height.

A pair of switches 66, 67 is secured to the rear side of the guideway portion 21 and each has an actuator 68, 69 which projects into a pendulous actuating element 70 which projects into the escapement mechanism 20 for control of the solenoid 49. When a cup 43 is in the lowermost position, its presence pushes the actuator 70 from the position shown in FIG. 8 to a retracted rearward position, thus opening a circuit through one of the switches to hold a sold-out light off and to hold another circuit closed to enable operation of the machine. While one of the switches serves to de-energize the solenoid 49, whenever a cup is vended permitting the actuating element 70 to swing to the position shown in FIG. 8, such switch can also be used to energize a stepping relay described below.

As shown in FIG. 9, a conventional monetary credit mechanism 71 may be connected to a conventional stepping relay 72 which has contacts connected to the solenoids 49 of each of the article vending mechanisms 13, identified as A-H respectively. The ninth and all succeeding terminals are connected together and to the input of the stepping relay 72 so that when the solenoid for the eighth terminal is energized, the next energizing of the stepping relay will automatically cause stepping to energize the first solenoid. By this structure, all of the article vending mechanisms 13 are actuated in sequence so that the articles that have been in the vending machine the longest will always be vended first.

As shown in FIG. 10, the monetary credit mechanism 71 may be connected to a conventional selector switch 73 for controlling the article vending mechanism H in a conventional manner. If desired, additional selector switches 74, 75 may be connected through a pair of stepping relays 76, 77, each of which is connected to a plurality of the vending mechanisms 13 as shown. Thus where a popular flavor or article is contained or is to be vended by the machine 10, a simple means is provided to increase the capacity or to vary the capacity for any one flavor or article in accordance with demand wherein the solenoids connected to a particular stepping relay will be actuated individually but in sequence.

The cups 43 are filled and closed remotely from the vending machine 10, such as with ice cream that is frozen hard, or other snack foods. Snack foods such as potato chips, corn chips, pop corn, nuts, are not easily and reliably dispensed in bulk as are liquids, but with the present invention, such foods can be prepackaged in tapered cups, and the filled cups dispensed as described. Nothing in the escapement mechanism provides any high lateral forces on the cups which would tend to deform them and possibly to damage the contents or loosen the lids. Yet, the tapered cups when stacked end to end have a high degree of resistance to crushing, and the bottom cup of a rather high stack will readily support a considerable number of additional cups.

The article vending mechanism 13 is filled with the access door 24in an open position with the bottom cup resting on the lower pair of support ledges 44, 45 and succeeding cups are stacked thereon in inverted condition. The access door 24 is closed so that the various elongated strips 26, provide sliding engagement with the stack of cups during dispensing. With the upper portion or cage 22 constructed as shown, it is preferable that the straps 39-41 and the bracket 53 be provided with a forwardly directed offset as shown at 78 in FIG. 4 to provide clearance for the cups 43.

On energizing of the solenoid 49, the plunger 60 moves upwardly to shift the rockers 50, 51 and the support ledges 44-47 from the position shown in FIG. 6 to the position shown in FIG. 7, thereby releasing the lowermost cup 43 just after the support ledges 46, 47 have moved to a position beneath the next cup 43 to be dispensed, and thereby on the release of the lowermost cup 43, enabling or permitting the remaining stack to drop onto the upper pair of support ledges 46, 47. On de-energizing of the solenoid 49, these components shift from the position shown in FIG. 7 to the position shown in FIG. 6, the lowermost support ledges 44, 45

moving into the path of the cups 43 before the upper pair of support ledges 46, 47 is retracted from the lowermost cup, thereby permitting the entire stack to drop onto the lower pair of support ledges 44, 45.

Although various minor modifications might be suggested by those versed in the art, it should be understood that I wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted herein, all such embodiments as reasonably and properly come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

I. An article vending mechanism comprising:

a. a vertical guideway for retaining a stack of filled tapered cups in inverted position;

b. a first lower pair of retractable support ledges dis posed at opposite sides of the lower end of said guideway and normally extending into said guideway for supporting the stack of filled cups by engaging diametrically opposite areas of the inverted top side of the lowermost cup;

0. a second pair of retractable support ledges disposed at opposite sides of said guideway at a distance above said first pair of support ledges which is less than the height of any of the cups, and normally retracted from the cups;

d. four pair of pilot fingers respectively carried by said support ledges extending at all times into said guideway and disposed, when retracted, in guideway corners spaced from the cups, said fingers enabling the cup-engaging portions of said ledges to be entirely withdrawn from the path of the cups in said guideway while serving as pilots for the reentry of said ledges into said guideway; and

e. a solenoid-actuated linkage connected to efiect alternate reciprocation of said pairs of ledges.

2. An article vending mechanism according to claim 1 in which said guideway is an elongated cage having a pair of elongated strips joined together at spaced points and comprising a hinged door having an access slot along its length between said pair of strips.

3. An article vending mechanism according to claim 1 in which said guideway is an elongated cage, said cage including a set of four wires extendig vertically at said guideway corners and spaced so that the crosssectional configuration of said guideway is substantially rectangular, said pilot fingers projecting through the shorter sides of said rectangular configuration.

4. An article vending mechanism according to claim 1 in which the upper portion of said guideway comprises a pivoted door enabling access to the interior of the guideway when open, and when closed providing part of the guidance for the cups.

5. An article vending mechanism according to claim 4 in which said door and the portion of said guideway below said door have aligned access slots running along the length of the vending mechanism.

6. An article vending mechanism comprising:

a. a vertical guideway for retaining a stack of filled tapered cups in inverted position, said guideway being an elongated cage having a pair of elongated strips joined together at spaced points and comprising a hinged door having an access slot along its length between said pair of strips;

b. at least one elongated wire forming part of said cage;

c. a pair of straps by which said strips are joined together, one end of said straps encircling said wire by which said door is hinged;

d. an escapement mechanism at the lower end of said guideway for acting upwardly on diametrically opposite areas of the inverted top sides of successive ones of said cups; and

e. a solenoid actuator connected to operate said escapement mechanism.

7. An article vending mechanism according to claim 6 in which said cage includes other elongated strips along which the cups can tangentially engage and slide toward said escapement mechanism, and at least one additional strap by which said other strips and said wire are interconnected, said one end of one of said firstnamed straps resting on said additional strap.

8. An article vending mechanism according to claim 7 including a set of four of said wires extending vertically at corners of said cage and disposed intermediately of said strips and spaced so that the crosssectional configuration of said guideway is rectangular.

9. An article vending mechanism according to claim 6 in which at least one of said straps remote from said one end, is a snap fastener engageable with an adjacent portion of said cage.

10. An article vending machine comprising:

a. a plurality of vertical guideways each capable of holding a plurality of articles;

b. a plurality of escapement mechanisms for vending articles disposed respectively at the lower ends of said guideways for acting upwardly on successive ones of said articles;

c. a plurality of solenoid actuators respectively connected to operate said escapement mechanisms;

d. a monetary credit mechanism; and

e. a stepping relay controlled by said credit mechanism and connected to energize said solenoid actuators for actuating them individually in sequence and to re-energize said solenoid actuators in said sequence; thereby vending one article from each of said guideways in said sequence before the next article is vended from a particular guide-way.

11. An article vending machine according to claim 10 including:

a. a second plurality of said vertical guideways having a second plurality of said escapement mechanisms operated by a second plurality of said solenoid actuators;

b. a second stepping relay connected to energize said second plurality of solenoid actuators; and

c. a pair of selector switches respectively connected between said credit mechanism and said stepping relays. 

1. An article vending mechanism comprising: a. a vertical guideway for retaining a stack of filled tapered cups in inverted position; b. a first lower pair of retractable support ledges disposed at opposite sides of the lower end of said guideway and normally extending into said guideway for supporting the stack of filled cups by engaging diametrically opposite areas of the inverted top side of the lowermost cup; c. a second pair of retractable support ledges disposed at opposite sides of said guideway at a distance above said first pair of support ledges which is less than the height of any of the cups, and normally retracted from the cups; d. four pair of pilot fingers respectively carried by said support ledges extending at all times into said guideway and dispOsed, when retracted, in guideway corners spaced from the cups, said fingers enabling the cup-engaging portions of said ledges to be entirely withdrawn from the path of the cups in said guideway while serving as pilots for the re-entry of said ledges into said guideway; and e. a solenoid-actuated linkage connected to effect alternate reciprocation of said pairs of ledges.
 2. An article vending mechanism according to claim 1 in which said guideway is an elongated cage having a pair of elongated strips joined together at spaced points and comprising a hinged door having an access slot along its length between said pair of strips.
 3. An article vending mechanism according to claim 1 in which said guideway is an elongated cage, said cage including a set of four wires extendig vertically at said guideway corners and spaced so that the cross-sectional configuration of said guideway is substantially rectangular, said pilot fingers projecting through the shorter sides of said rectangular configuration.
 4. An article vending mechanism according to claim 1 in which the upper portion of said guideway comprises a pivoted door enabling access to the interior of the guideway when open, and when closed providing part of the guidance for the cups.
 5. An article vending mechanism according to claim 4 in which said door and the portion of said guideway below said door have aligned access slots running along the length of the vending mechanism.
 6. An article vending mechanism comprising: a. a vertical guideway for retaining a stack of filled tapered cups in inverted position, said guideway being an elongated cage having a pair of elongated strips joined together at spaced points and comprising a hinged door having an access slot along its length between said pair of strips; b. at least one elongated wire forming part of said cage; c. a pair of straps by which said strips are joined together, one end of said straps encircling said wire by which said door is hinged; d. an escapement mechanism at the lower end of said guideway for acting upwardly on diametrically opposite areas of the inverted top sides of successive ones of said cups; and e. a solenoid actuator connected to operate said escapement mechanism.
 7. An article vending mechanism according to claim 6 in which said cage includes other elongated strips along which the cups can tangentially engage and slide toward said escapement mechanism, and at least one additional strap by which said other strips and said wire are interconnected, said one end of one of said first-named straps resting on said additional strap.
 8. An article vending mechanism according to claim 7 including a set of four of said wires extending vertically at corners of said cage and disposed intermediately of said strips and spaced so that the cross-sectional configuration of said guideway is rectangular.
 9. An article vending mechanism according to claim 6 in which at least one of said straps remote from said one end, is a snap fastener engageable with an adjacent portion of said cage.
 10. An article vending machine comprising: a. a plurality of vertical guideways each capable of holding a plurality of articles; b. a plurality of escapement mechanisms for vending articles disposed respectively at the lower ends of said guideways for acting upwardly on successive ones of said articles; c. a plurality of solenoid actuators respectively connected to operate said escapement mechanisms; d. a monetary credit mechanism; and e. a stepping relay controlled by said credit mechanism and connected to energize said solenoid actuators for actuating them individually in sequence and to re-energize said solenoid actuators in said sequence; thereby vending one article from each of said guideways in said sequence before the next article is vended from a particular guide-way.
 11. An article vending machine according to claim 10 including: a. a second plurality of said vertical guideways having a sEcond plurality of said escapement mechanisms operated by a second plurality of said solenoid actuators; b. a second stepping relay connected to energize said second plurality of solenoid actuators; and c. a pair of selector switches respectively connected between said credit mechanism and said stepping relays. 